South Dakota State University

Mission, Vision, History, and Governance

Mission

South Dakota State University will create a prosperous future for the people of South Dakota and their communities, and for the region and the nation, through excellence in education, in innovation and new knowledge creation and in putting knowledge to work.

Vision

South Dakota State University will be a nationally recognized, locally relevant, student-centered and accessible land-grant university.

History

South Dakota State University is the state’s largest, most comprehensive institution. As South Dakota’s Morrill Act land-grant university, with students from all 50 states and 40 countries. SDSU offers more than 200 undergraduate majors, minors and options with many of these leading to graduate and professional degrees. The University also offers courses at various off-campus sites as well as undergraduate and graduate programs online through the Office of Continuing and Distance Education.

University Governance

A public, land-grant institution, SDSU was founded in 1881, authorized by the Dakota Territorial Legislature, and is governed by the South Dakota Board of Regents, according to state law. The Agricultural Experiment Station was established and linked to the University in 1887 under the federal Hatch Act to conduct research that “concerns agriculture and the home.” In 1914 the Cooperative Extension Service was added by the Smith-Lever Act to “provide information to the people of the State.” Both the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service are administered by the College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences.